Boxing promoter Damon Feldman pleads no contest to fixing fights

MEDIA COURTHOUSE -- Local boxing promoter Damon Feldman went down without a fight Monday, as he entered "no contest" pleas to charges he fixed fights, and during his two-year period of probation, he's barred from handling any promotions for bouts in Pennsylvania.

Feldman, 41, entered the pleas to charges of rigging publicly exhibited contests and violating the boxing act by prohibited competitions.

"He cannot do any promotions at all in the state for the period of his probation, which is two years," said state Senior Deputy Attorney General John Flannery.

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Other charges, including bribery and theft, had been dismissed previously because of the insufficiency of the evidence, according to attorney Robert Bush, who represented Feldman.

"It just made good sense to get it behind him and go on with his life," said Bush concerning Monday's admissions.

Bush said a promotional event about cage wars at Harrah's Chester Casino and Racetrack, in which the release stated it was from Damon Feldman, is actually being handled by his brother, David.

"His brother David is promoting that event at Harrah's," said Bush.

In his plea, Damon Feldman admitted staging a series of fights in Philadelphia and Delaware County between September 2008 and December 2009 without a valid promoter's license.

He was also accused of picking the winners and losers before the participants even entered the ring.

Flannery said Feldman first agreed to the plea last year and then "reneged."

"This is the same deal offered back then when he told everybody this was all a mistake. I guess it wasn't a misunderstanding considering the outcome," said Flannery.

Under the terms of the pleas approved by Judge Gregory Mallon, Feldman is to make $7,500 in restitution to an investor, according to Flannery. He is also to serve two years of probation.

Danny Bonaduce, who co-starred in "The Partridge Family" in the 1970s, was among those who testified last year during Feldman's preliminary hearing. Bonaduce, a radio and TV personality who participated in four or five of Feldman's events, testified during the May 2010 hearing that he took the fights seriously and was never asked to rig a bout.

Testimony was presented at that same hearing that Feldman admitted to investigators that 95 percent of the fights he promoted were fixed.